


The Toy is Mine

by Fearlesskiki



Series: Christmas Shortbreads [7]
Category: Football RPF, Real Person Fiction
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Party, Christmas Presents, Christmas Shopping, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-07
Updated: 2017-01-07
Packaged: 2018-09-12 09:17:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9065557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fearlesskiki/pseuds/Fearlesskiki
Summary: Christmas shopping is not an easy task, especially for a guy like Manuel Neuer. The worst part is, it is already Christmas eve and he still yet to finish his shopping.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thomasmulli (DrifterWriter)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrifterWriter/gifts).



> It took me forever to come out something and I hope you enjoy it although it's not Christmas anymore. Lol.

"Philipp, check. Thomas, check. Bastian, check..." Manuel ticks off his Christmas shopping list as he walks along the path with hands full of shopping bags, without realising the bags knock down one of the teddy bears from the shelf. He breaks abruptly when he realises there is something he is yet to buy.

 

"Oh mein Gott! Julian!" he yells.

 

Several eyes turn their focus to Manuel as he slaps his hand to his forehead. He has yet to buy a present for Philipp's son, Julian. The young boy's Christmas gift is still missing in his shopping bag and it is definitely not looking good. It is the most important one on the list and he could not believe that it slipped off his mind when he got the Thor figurine for Christoph.

 

The mall speakers let out a tune and follow with an announcement of the store closing time, which is in 15 minutes. Manuel's jaw drops. He glances at his watch and could not believe it is already 1.45pm. He has to make the move now or he will not able make it on time. No matter what, Manuel has to get that gift. He could not disappoint a young boy, especially on Christmas Eve. That would be too cruel. Manuel curses silently at himself as rushes back to the figurines section for the exact toy that Julian had on his wish list. Manuel could have come back earlier the next day if today is not Christmas Eve already. But he could only blame himself for the last minute shopping. If only he had listened to Philipp and did his Christmas shopping instead of partying with Thomas, he would not be a headless chicken like now. And to his surprise, the figurine section for boys is huge. There are so many choices on the shelves and it is not easy to find a specific toy from a thousand similar ones. Manuel quickly scans through the shelves and eliminates the odd ones out. Frankly speaking, all the toys look the same to Manuel. He wishes he could just grab the first toy he sees but little Julian has hinted that he specifically wanted a Harry Potter Funko Pop Figure. Anything less than that would not cut it. Manuel knew it too well. He remembered last year he had tried giving a Spiderman figurine instead of a Superman, tricking Julian into believing it but the young boy is too smart to fall for it.

 

"Ah, finally," Manuel flashes a smile when he spots the Harry Potter figurine at the middle of the shelf. As he stretches his hand to reach for the toy, he could see another hand sticking it to the same toy. He turns his head to the side and sees Thomas giving him a blank stare.

 

"No, no, no, Thomas, I saw it first." He says.

 

"Oh no. I saw it first, Manu!" Thomas replies, pulling the toy away from Manuel.

 

"I'm buying it for Julian!" Manuel says.

 

"I'M buying it for Julian!" Thomas echoes him.

 

"Get your own toy, Thomas!" Manuel says.

 

"Why don't YOU get your own toy, Manu?" Thomas replies.

 

Manuel would have gotten another one if there is another one. The one that they are fighting over from is apparently the only one Harry Potter Funko Pop Figure. There are plenty of other Harry Potter figurines from Lego, Hallmark, and Universal Studios on the shelves but Julian wants a Funko Pop version. So it has to be the Funko Pop version. But Thomas seems to be determined to get the same toy, not willing to let go of it. Both guys give each other a death stare, hoping the other would give up.

 

"Look! A horse!" Manuel shouts as he points to the north.

 

"Where?" Thomas responds and turns his head to the said direction. Manuel yanks the toy when Thomas is distracted by his prank. He flashes a smirk and uses this opportunity to rush to the counter before the store closes. But it only takes two seconds for Thomas to realise it is a hoax. The midfielder catches up with Manuel as the latter is busy picking up his other shopping bags. Thomas grabs the toy from Manuel and it is back to square one. As the guys are fighting over the toy, a retail staff comes by the shelf and sort out the toys. Manuel glances to the staff and it gives him a thought.

 

"Excuse me, sir! Is there any more stock for this toy?" Manuel asks the staff while tugging the toy to himself.

 

"Nope." The staff replies with a nonchalant tone without even bother to give Manuel an eye contact. Manuel continues to enter a tug of war session with Thomas until Thomas yanks the toy with full strengh. The toy, however, slips off from Thomas' hands.

 

"NOOOOOOOOOOO-"

 

Manuel witnesses the toy fly over Thomas' head. He dashes to the figurine's direction, dives and stretches his hands to the maximum to reach the toy. He watches the toy figurine drops in slow motion but thankfully he manages to cushion it with his bare hands. Manuel lets out as sigh relief as he lands on a rubber mat. As he gets hold of the toy for three seconds, the toy is swiftly removed from his hands.

 

"Danke." Thomas says as he wiggles the toy in front of Manuel.

 

"Hey!" Manuel shouts as the watches Thomas making his way to the counter. Manuel gets his feet back on the ground and chases his colleague to the cashier. As he reaches the scene, he could see a huge queue. Manuel glares at the mischievous Thomas throughout the waiting queue. Thomas ignores his stares and patiently waits for his turn. Manuel turns his sight to the toy and then to his shopping bags full of Christmas presents.

 

"Ha! You can't give a present without a wrapper! I bet you don't have one!" Manuel attempts to taunt Thomas as he flashes a lopsided smile to his colleague.

 

“I’ll just put it in a bag, loser!” Thomas replies and then sticks out his tongue to Manuel. Thomas moves forward and places the toy on the counter. He starts scramble through his pocket for some money. This time, Manuel outsmarts him, placing his card on the cashier as he already prepared the payment beforehand. He even gives Thomas a grin. Thomas can only look at him with a blank stare.

 

"That would be 25 Euros, sir." the cashier says. As Manuel keys in the pin numbers, he notices a hand sneaking its way to the toy.

 

"Thanks!" Thomas grabs the toy and sprints towards the exit.

 

"Hey! Thief! He stole my toy!" Manuel yells and turns to the cashier.

 

"Thank you for shopping at Toys R Us, sir. Have a nice day." The cashier says with a nonchalant tone while she hands the credit card back to Manuel.

 

Manuel curses with disbelief of the cashier's response as he watches Thomas heads towards the exit. To his surprise, the alarm went off. Thomas is swiftly stopped by the security guard. He could see Thomas yelling and waving his hand excessively to the guards, turning it to a big hey ho. Manuel forrows his brows and rushes to the scene to get some answers.

 

"Wait, it must be a misunderstanding. I paid for the toy." Manuel says, showing the receipt to the guard as he arrives. The guard scans through it and give suspecting glances to Thomas. He still insists to have a security check for regulation purposes, going through the shopping bag and scans the products one by one. It turns out that a teddy bear triggered the alarm. Thomas waves his hands, denying he has bought or even seen the teddy bear. Manuel believes Thomas' words. He believes that although Thomas can be mischevious, he is definitely not a thief. This must be a misunderstanding. The bear must have been mistakenly placed into Thomas' bag. But even though Manuel believes him, the guard does not. There are still dissaproving eyes glaring to Thomas.

 

Manuel starts to smile and give a few sweet talk the guard and eventually guard agrees to let them off the hook after paying for it since it is Christmas eve. The two left the store and spend the whole journey with awkward silence. The only words that they mumur out are 'thank you' and 'you're welcome'.

 

***

 

"Hey! Frohe Weihnachten!" Philipp says, welcoming his guests Manuel and Thomas to his house. They exchange hugs and enter the living room full of lively people. Little Julian sprints towards Manuel and Thomas' direction.

 

"Frohe Weihnachten, uncle Thomas and uncle Manuel!" He says with a bright smile. Thomas hands a bag to the young boy and gives little Julian a grin. Julian smiles back at him and then turn his sight to Manuel. He stares at Manuel with a pair of innocent blue eye for a while before he opens his mouth. "Where's your gift, Uncle Manuel?"

 

"Uhm..." Manuel utters.

 

Oh no.

 

He is fumbled by Julian's question. Manuel has no idea how to answer it as he did not prepare anything for the young boy. He scrunches his face, wondering how to break the bad news to the little boy. He hates to be the person to breaks a tiny fragile heart on Christmas Day. His name will surely be blacklisted on Julian's book after this.

 

"Hey Jules, this gift is from both uncle Manuel and Thomas. It will be the best gift that you'll ever receive." Thomas replies, giving Julian a pat on the head.

 

"Oh. Thank you, uncle Manuel. Thank you, uncle Thomas." Julian says and then skips away to join the other kids.

 

"Erh... Thank you, Thomas." Manuel aays sheepishly.

 

"Nah, it's nothing." Thomas replies with a smile. "Hey, I'm hungry. Let's get something to eat."

 

Manuel nods to Thomas and joins his colleague to the buffet table. He scans through the table and the first thing that catches his eye is the last pudding on the counter.  He stretches his hand to the pudding and notices another hand sticking to the same cup of pudding. Manuel lifts his head and notices Thomas is standing beside him with a grin.

 

"Nah, you can have it this time." Thomas says.

 

"It's okay. You can have it." Manuel replies with a smile.

 

"Hey, you know what? Why don't we just share it? Isn't that Christmas is all about?" Thomas says. He flashes a smile a smile to Manuel and the goalkeeper nods to his teammate.

**Author's Note:**

> The title comes from a Brandy & Monica song, The Boy Is Mine.
> 
> If you like it please give me a kudos. Share it with your friends. Please tell me anything in the comments and I will try my very best to improve :) Every kudos, comment, subscription and bookmark means the world to me. Thank you :D
> 
> Yeah, you can follow me on [Tumblr](http://fearlesskiki.tumblr.com/) and [join the FBD Book Club!](https://footballblogsdirectory.tumblr.com/post/160746377878/welcome-to-the-fbd-book-club-this-is-a-place-to)


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